Third Time's a Charm
by Fluff Kitty
Summary: Is the third time really the charm? Natsu hopes so cause if it's not he may take forever to finally confess to Lucy. /Oneshot/ Read and Review !


_**Disclaimer:**__** I don't own Fairy Tail. All rights belong to Hiro Mashima.**_

_**Here is another story that I had saved for my wonderful followers (and others who happen to read it of course). Please read and review. Enjoy~! :3 **_

* * *

Natsu always enjoyed being dumb. Odd as it sounds it was easier that way. He never had to explain himself and when he heard something he didn't like he would act confused and people would drop it. That is to say, most people would drop it. Mira, however, isn't one of them.

Things had started of innocently enough now that he thought back on it. Team Natsu had just returned from a mission and it had gone surprisingly well. No one got injured and damage to the town the job was in was minimal so they actually got to keep their whole reward-about which Lucy was ecstatic. Natsu decided to treat himself to a fire whiskey so he plopped down at the bar with the she demon herself.

"One fire whiskey Mira." Natsu called out happily from his perch on the stool.

"Hai!" Mira called back, arriving in front of him a moment later. "Here you are. Good work today. I heard you all did really well." Natsu nodded, his attention directed at his blonde partner at the front of the guild. Many male Fairy Tail mages had swarmed her upon entry and he was finding it... disturbing to say the least.

"Natsu!" Cana screeched from a table directly to his left. "Mira's talking to you." Blinking repeatedly he swiftly directed his gaze to the eldest Strauss sibling in front of him.

"Sorry Mira-San. What were you saying?" Natsu questioned in obvious embarrassment. Shaking her head at him Mira repeated her question.

"So Natsu... when will you confess to Lucy?" Natsu blanched. This wasn't a question he was expecting.

"Wha?" He said in hopes of deterring Mirajane.

"Never mind, I'll ask you later." With that she turned away to deliver more beer to Cana, Macao and Wakaba. Staying at the counter while Lucy was being drooled over was one of the harder things Natsu has ever done but he really needed some time to think. Standing up abruptly he walked over to the mass of men.

"Oi, Luce!" He shouted, instantly gaining the attention of his partner. "Wanna go on a job?" Lucy tilted her head questioningly but had no actual reason to say no plus she was happy so she agreed, I mean, why not really. Mere moments later Natsu had a job and they were heading off to the train station. The two walked in a contented silence for a little while until Natsu piped up.

"Luce... what's a confession?" He asked her, hoping to start a conversation.

"Eh?" Lucy screeched, stopping mid-step. Natsu, who had been walking slightly behind Lucy, didn't notice her stop and slammed into her back.

"Sorry Luce!" Natsu exclaimed, reaching out a hand to steady her but it was too late. Her feet stumbled and she toppled forwards. Letting out a squeak of terror Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, tensing her body for impact.

"Gotcha!" Suddenly Natsu's arms wrapped around her waist, stopping her from hitting the painfully sharp gravel below. Gently turning her around and pulling her to his chest he let her rest there for a moment as she panted harshly to regain her composure-and breath of course. Eventually her breathing evened out and she stood there voluntarily in his grip.

"Luce?" He breathed against her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

"Hn?"

"I... I think-" Natsu started but was cut off by a gasp from Lucy. "What is it?" He asked instead.

"We'll miss the train!" She responded, grabbing his hand and taking off. Natsu screamed at himself in his mind for failing at telling her. He hadn't thought about confessing to her, it just kind of happened. But, thanks to the stupid train-he refused to blame Lucy-he missed out and now had a big red 1 written down on a tally in his mind for failed attempts. He did manage to stop worrying long enough to realize that she was holding his hand though so he readjusted himself so that his fingers intertwined with hers. He smiled happily to himself, not noticing her blush. Happy, thank god, had stayed back at the guild since the mission they had taken was up on Mt. Hakobe -just like their first mission so long ago- and it was too cold for his liking.

"Oh thank goodness we made it on time!" Lucy chirped, running straight to the train. It was at this time that Natsu realized he had to take a train.

**(^.^) (^.^)**

Natsu moaned weakly, mushing his face into the cool window in hopes of relieving his sickness. Lucy watched him out of the corner of her eye as she tried to read a new novel Levy had given to her. It was actually not a racy or erotic novel this time. In fact it was more of a science fiction one titled _Virals_. Natsu moaned once again, sliding down on the bench. Lucy had been in the mindset of making sure he didn't freak anybody out on the ride -even though they were going to a freezing, practically uninhabited mountain with no other people of significance on this particular train- so she got them a private compartment where Natsu could just be sick of he had to.

"Luce... ung." Natsu ground out through clenched teeth. Directing her full attention to her obviously pained pink haired partner Lucy quirked a brow. "... I... lap?" He questioned her, pausing repeatedly so he wouldn't destroy her shoes.

"Eh?"

"I... use... lap?" Lucy tilted her head slightly before remembering Erza telling her to allow Natsu to rest his head on her lap. Blushing beet red she nodded slightly, moving across the three foot gap between the benches to sit beside him. As soon as she was seated Natsu fell over into her lap with a muffled groan.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asked gently, stroking his surprisingly soft hair. Natsu opened his mouth to answer but unfortunately all that came out was a groan as the train swiftly turned left, pulling Natsu with the momentum. Lucy yelped as Natsu was suddenly wrenched off of her lap and his face turned an alarming shade of green. Reaching out with more speed and agility she would've thought possible for herself Lucy grasped his vest and tugged him back as the train straightened out.

"Unf... T-Thanks..." Natsu gasped, his face slowing turning back to the pale green it had started as. Rolling over so that he was facing her, Natsu looped his arms around Lucy's waist in an attempt to anchor himself. Lucy nodded at him -despite knowing he couldn't see her- and continued stroking his hair until the PA system came to life announcing that they would be arriving at their destination shortly.

"Natsu, can you sit up?" Lucy asked him, bending over so she could see his face. Cracking open an eyelid Natsu stared at her for a moment before nodding once and starting to stand up. Once he was on his own two feet he reeled backwards at the shock of suddenly getting hit with the feeling of movement full force. Lucy let out a squeak and grabbed a flailing arm, quickly pulling him over to her.

"I said sit up not stand up!" Lucy exclaimed with an exasperated sigh. "Here, put your arm over my shoulders." She directed, holding him upright carefully. Just then the train slowed and Lucy grabbed their bags, quickly shoving her smaller one into his. As gently as she could Lucy dragged Natsu off the train and started the trek up the mountains with Natsu still dangling off of her. Minutes of silence passed by until Lucy noticed her burden lighten bit by bit.

"You feeling better?" She asked, stopping to allow Natsu time to stand up on his own and walk with her.

"Yeah." Natsu grunted, shaking his head to clear away the remnants of his sickness. "I'm all fired up now." He added with a smirk. Lucy smiled up at him and was quite surprised when he gave her a hug and took his bag, knowing full well he'd be carrying hers to if he did that. Turning his gaze to the sky Natsu nudged Lucy forwards.

"We'd better get going. It looks like a storm's coming and we should get this job over with before then." Lucy accepted his judgement and resumed hiking only to pause for a brief moment to hope that a storm wouldn't actually happen. _Up in the mountains there wouldn't be thunder or lightning._ She reasoned to herself, jogging to catch up with Natsu._ But it would completely shroud our vision and freeze us to death if we got caught in it. Well... freeze me to death anyways._ Suppressing a shudder she pulled out her key ring and took off Horologium's before placing the ring back in its leather pouch.

"Open, Gate of the Clock! Horologium!" She yelled out suddenly, rubbing the goosebumps that had arisen along her arms. Natsu looked over with a surprised expression on his face.

"Why'd you call him out?" He questioned, waving a greeting to the clock as well.

"Too cold. She announces with chattering teeth." Horologium states for his masters benefit. Natsu smiled bemusedly at the occupant of the clock for a few moments before responding.

"Wanna use my scarf instead? He asks obviously." Lucy blinked owlishly at him before gently pushing on the glass covering and delicately stepping out onto the cold, unyielding ground. Without saying a word he unwraps his scarf and hands it over, chuckling when he sees her blush.

"Thanks Clock man. You can go now." Natsu smiles happily at Horologium. Horologium nods and disappears in a puff of stardust.

"C'mon. Let's get the Vulcan before he gets us like last time." Lucy hurriedly puts on the scarf-which was still warm like Natsu- and shuddered at the thought, nodding heartily. Slipping her small, cold hand into his large, warm one Lucy gave Natsu a smile and continued walking up by his side.

**(^.^) (^.^)**

"Woman come back?" A deep voice boomed, shaking the very mountains Natsu and Lucy were searching.

"No!" Lucy cried back indignantly, swinging her fists at the monster she couldn't see. Just then the Vulcan jumped out of a crack in the base of the largest pile of boulders near Lucy, completely ignoring Natsu while grinning lecherously at Lucy.

"But you can have her if you beat me!" Natsu yelled out, lighting up his fists. Immediately turning their attention to Natsu the two gave him their reactions to this statement. Lucy let out a shocked gasp as the Vulcan jumped up and down and clapped happily.

"Natsu! Why?" She screeched unhappily as the monster leered at her.

"Just trust me Luce." He whispered to her, stalking forwards. The Vulcan glared at Natsu and jumped into the air, blowing a kiss to Lucy. Shuddering at the furry creature Lucy fumbled around on her key ring finally pulling out Loke.

"Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!" Lucy yelled out, eyeing the Vulcan as she did so.

"Yes, my Princess?" Loke bowed, throwing her a charming grin. Lucy rolled her eyes and raised her hand, pointing to the Vulcan who was in mid-battle with Natsu. Loke frowned at Lucy who just continued to point at the oversized ape until he finally cracked and rolled up his sleeves, walking over to the battling duo.

"I would've much preferred a kiss you know." Loke mumbled, turning his head to glance at Lucy as he launched a Regulus attack on the halfway unconscious Vulcan. Lucy face palmed herself, pulling her whip off of her belt and walked slowly over to Loke, untwisting it as she went.

"Oh, I didn't know you were into that kind of thing." He joked, smirking over at her. Lucy glared at him and her eyes flashed in annoyance as she readied her whip for an attack. Loke's eyes widened and he took a step backwards, flailing his hands in front of him.

"Lucy, calm down. I was just jo-" He started in a panic but was cut off with a mouthful of snow as Lucy's whip tangled up the Vulcan's legs and he tipped, throwing snow everywhere.

"Natsu, now!" Lucy shouted, ignoring her spirit's expression. Natsu grinned and jumped into the air.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" He screeched, placing his hands in front of his mouth and launching the final attack to knock the Vulcan unconscious.

"Yes! I'll be able to make rent this month!" Lucy cheered, launching herself at Natsu for a hug. "Forced Closure, Gate of the Lion, Leo!" Lucy added, rolling her eyes at her still dumbstruck so called prince. The force of her movement knocked them over and Natsu laughed at Loke and returned the embrace, rolling over and getting them both covered in snow before deeming it an acceptable time to talk to Lucy.

"Hmm... so maybe you're not so bad without your spirits, ne?" Lucy gazed questioningly over at him, sitting herself against the very rocks the Vulcan had jumped out of.

"Oh? Who said I was?" She asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. Natsu's eyes widened as he realized the implications of what he said and he immediately waved his arms, crawling up to her side.

"No one! I was just saying you can fight without your spirits really well. I didn't mean that you were bad on your own. Honest, I swear! Well I don't really swear unless I'm in a battle but you get the point. It's just... Luce? What's so funny?" Lucy looked up at him from her position by his feet, laughing so hard her sides hurt and tears were streaming down her face.

"You're... just so... damn adorable." She giggled between pants. Natsu looked at her, completely shocked.

"Adorable?" He breathed, searching her face as it went from joyful to confused to embarrassed.

"Uhh... yeah... heh heh..." She muttered, looking down at the snow covered terrain. Natsu did the same and they stayed that way until Lucy looked up and smiled, trying to rid them of the awkward atmosphere.

"Ouch!" Lucy exclaimed, placing a hand on her cheek to find that her tear tracks had frozen and left trails of sharp ice all down her cheeks.

"Uhm, Natsu?" Natsu looked up at her, blinking in confusion when he saw her pained expression.

"What happened? The Vulcan didn't have time to hurt you. I made sure of that!" He told her, scrambling over to her side.

"My uh, tears kinda... froze... on my face... heh... oops?" She replied, shrugging her shoulders with a half smile. Natsu smirked and rolled back on his heels.

"Your tears... froze to your face?" He asked solemnly. At Lucy's nod his face cracked into a grin and he placed his hands on her cheeks, pulling her face close to his.

"N-Natsu?" Lucy stuttered, blushing profusely.

"Hm?" He grunted, focusing on defrosting her cheeks.

"N-Never mind..."

"Kay." With that said he stepped back and straightened himself out, standing up in front of her.

"C'mon, we have to find shelter before the storm hits." He reminded her gruffly, a red tint dusting his cheeks as he extended a hand to her. Lucy smiled gently and reached upwards, smirking as she grabbed his hand and gave a firm tug, launching him headfirst into the snow.

"Wha?" He gasped when Lucy jumped on top of him, rolling around until they were both, once again, sufficiently doused in the white flakes.

"Payback." She stated simply, grinning at him with mere inches between their faces. Natsu's eyes widened when he noticed their position and he froze, making Lucy tense in return.

"What is it?" She whispered, molding herself to his body in fear.

"Luce?" He murmured, catching her attention over her panicked heartbeats and pants of fear.

"Yeah?" She murmured back, still worried something was out there.

"I..." He started but was once again interrupted but this time by a flurry of snowflakes that flew up his nose and in his eyes, subsequently making him sneeze and momentarily blinding him. Lucy giggled at the sight and quickly stood up and, upon deeming the landscape devoid of dangers, offered her hand down to the slightly disoriented Dragon slayer who was busy sneezing and angrily drawing a number two on his failed attempts tally.

"I should so drag you down but I'm getting wet with the snow and my heat so we have to find someplace for me to hide. You're lucky." He finally grumbled, accepting her proffered hand and dragging her off towards the opposite side of the fairly flat area in hopes of finding a large enough cave that Lucy deemed acceptable in time. The wind was already picking up largely and the flurries of flakes had increased in size. Soon, even with his Dragon slayer abilities, Natsu would have a hard time making it through the storm and that's not even including the fact that he would have to watch out for Lucy.

Exactly eight and a half caves later left them at the mouth of a cave large enough to hold an entire household and then some. Lucy took some vines that were amazingly and conveniently growing along the roof of the cave and set up boundaries.

"My side, your side, neutral area." She declared, pointing out the three different sections. Natsu blinked at her before looking around.

"Your area has the outside wind and snow blasting on it." He pointed out, igniting a little flame on his finger and rolling it around between his hands. Lucy stood there in shock for a moment before turning around to discover that Natsu was completely right. She'd be screwed.

"Damn..." She muttered, wandering around the empty cave, save for Natsu, the vines and herself, in search of a better spot.

"Look, you can sleep in the neko area, right?" He asked, trying to unburden her.

"Neutral, Natsu. Neutral." She mumbled but did have to mentally agree with him. After all, the neutral area was almost perfect. It was sheltered from outside weather and consisted of a fairly large nook that stretched from the back of the cave to the mouth. She didn't know why she didn't give herself that area first.

"Okay, neutral. Either way..." He muttered, tossing the ball up and balancing it on his nose. Lucy looked back at him and giggled, reaching out to poke the fire ball. Experience had shown her it wouldn't burn her so why not.

"Hey!" Natsu exclaimed when the little ball rolled onto her finger.

"Whoa!" Lucy shouted out, flinging the ball in the air. "How did that work?" She wondered aloud to herself, catching the ball in her cupped hands. Natsu smiled up at her and created a slightly larger one and threw it at her.

"Combine them." Was all he said. Lucy gave him a confused frown but sat down and placed them both on the ground, worried that they would still burn her clothes.

Carefully digging her hand into the larger one she peeled back a chunk and slowly slipped the smaller one into the gap she had created before placing the part in her one hand back down. Now they were combined but there was still a tear that needed to be a seam.

"Hmm... what if I blew some snow on it?" She mumbled to herself, reaching over and picking up a clump of the white substance, sprinkling some on the fire ball and watching it sizzle as it sealed itself so as to protect itself.

"Yes!" Lucy suddenly cheered, tossing the ball back at Natsu. "I did it! Now tell me how I did it." She demanded, pointing threateningly at Natsu.

"Uh... well it doesn't burn my... uhh... friends?" He told her in a questioning tone. Lucy glared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and shoving her hands into the scarf around her neck. With the absence of the fire ball she realized how much colder it had become.

"Here." She heard Natsu murmur as he gently placed the ball of fire into a crack in the rocks, providing them with light and, if they were close enough, a little blast of heat.

"Thanks." Lucy mumbled, pressing herself against the wall with the little ball of warmth. Natsu shrugged and sat down beside her, laying his head back on the wall.

"Luce... I've been wanting to tell you this all day but I keep getting interrupted by things so now is the perfect time. Just us, no interruptions." Taking a deep breath Natsu turned to Lucy and closed his eyes, expecting the worst. _Third time's a charm after all, right?_ His mind added.

"I love you." He blurted, his face lighting up.

"Mhm." Lucy moaned, rolling over and onto the floor in her sleep. Natsu fell backwards in defeat.

"Damn... and that's three." He muttered, curling up and trying to fall asleep. "Screw third time's a charm."

**(^.^) (^.^)**

Hours later Natsu woke up to a strange noise. Looking around quickly he noted that Lucy was curled up on the floor, fast asleep and the storm was raging outside and causing a pretty nasty chill. Aside from the storm though he heard no strange noises. Just a quick tapping off to his side. Pulling his gaze over he saw Lucy's teeth chattering a mile a minute and he laid back down to go to sleep.

_It's just her teeth. No big deal. She's just freezing her ass off. That's all._ His mind assured him as his eyes slid shut._ Wait... Holy Mavis Lucy's freezing!_ Jumping up on his feet he went to her side and bent over, pressing his hand against her cheek for her temperature. With his eyebrows shooting up in concern only one thought crossed his mind.

_She's colder than Popsicle Brain._ However, his mind and everything else in his body shut down when he felt one of Lucy's freezing hands grab his own.

"Natsu..." She mumbled, hugging his warmth to her. Blushing profusely Natsu laid down in front of her, using his body to protect her from the wind and snow blowing in.

"Luce... I'm here." He whispered, pulling his hand out of her grip to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her close. Lucy immediately relaxed in his warm embrace and a soft smile lit up her features. Natsu found himself being lulled to sleep when Lucy wrapped her arms around his torso in return and buried her face in the crook of his neck, breathing deeply.

"I love you..." He whispered again, no longer caring if she heard as he shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Lucy blinked twice with a joyous smile on her face before snuggling closer to Natsu and finally falling asleep. She had awoken quite some time ago because of the cold and watched Natsu as he slept, contemplating what she had heard him say earlier but had pretended to be asleep since she had no response for him at the time. Her eyes slammed shut when Natsu shot up in a panic. A minute later he had been at her side and laid a hand on her face. She just couldn't help herself at that point so she had grabbed his hand for comfort and soon after he was curled around her, fast asleep. Laying a gentle kiss on his jaw Lucy mumbled good night and slipped into a pleasant darkness.

**(^.^) (^.^)**

"Natsu... Natsu... Natsu... NATSU!" Natsu shot up and looked around blinking rapidly.

"Huh? Wha...?" He mumbled groggily as his eyes locked onto Lucy's face.

"I have to go pee." Lucy stated firmly, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

"Okay... then go." Lucy face palmed herself and let out a groan of annoyance.

"Okay... then let go!" She exclaimed, motioning to his arms.

"Oh... sorry." Natsu mumbled, releasing his hold on her waist and scrambling backwards and therefore out of arms reach. Lucy gave him a halfhearted glare before darting outside to relieve herself.

Natsu, meanwhile sat on the cold stone floor of the cave and added a bit more to his ball of flame in the wall. Then he looked around briefly until his gaze landed on his backpack. Crawling over and peeling up the front flap Natsu fished around until his hand located the plastic container Mira had given him with food in it. Licking his lips excitedly Natsu put his hand on the lid and was about to open the container when he froze and stared down at it.

"I guess I should wait for Luce..." He mumbled, placing the container on the floor and staring at it longingly as his stomach growled in outrage.

As if his stomach were a cue Lucy walked back in and burst out laughing at the spectacle before her.

"What's so funny?" Natsu questioned unhappily, eyeing the container greedily.

"What are you doing? Can't open the container or something? You look like a child who can't reach the cookie jar!" Lucy sputtered, clutching at her sides as tears of merriment ran down her face. Natsu glared over at her in annoyance until she stopped laughing and sat up, dusting the snow off of her boots. Surprisingly she had worn an outfit that worked with the weather and wasn't as revealing. It consisted of a light pink tank top with blue skinny jeans and her normal brown boots with a brown, furred jacket. Natsu stared up at her in complete awe. Her hair had a windblown look to it and was sparkling lightly with the fresh snow flakes while her cheeks were a bright pink and her eyes were shining in happiness. Throughout the whole thing Lucy had kept his scarf wrapped snugly around her neck an Natsu almost choked on his own spit when he saw just how good she looked in it.

"Luce... I love you..." He breathed subconsciously, blinking in worry as the words left his mouth. This wasn't the right way to say it. Lucy smiled over at him.

"I love you too." Lucy grinned, sitting down beside him and pulling the ball of flame out of the crack, hugging it closely to her and no longer caring about whether or not her clothes would burn. Natsu gaped at her in shock as she opened the container of food, heating it up with the fire ball and grabbing two forks, passing one to Natsu and grabbing a bite for herself with the other.

"What, don't you want some?" She asked, grabbing a bite with his fork and inching it closer to his mouth. Natsu absently opened his mouth and took the food, chewing it slowly and watching Lucy eat in wonder.

"What, is there something on my face?" She asked worriedly, wiping her mouth and cheeks. Natsu shook his head.

"Nah... just thinking about how maybe the third time really is a charm."

"Well... I might have possibly heard you last night... twice." Lucy admitted, blushing beet red.

"But you didn't say anything?" Natsu gasped, staring over at her.

"What? I didn't know how to react at first!" She defended, tossing her fork in her bag after taking a final bite.

"Fine... I guess what really matters is that you return my feelings." Natsu mumbled in embarrassment, his cheeks darkening lightly. Lucy blinked in astonishment at his words and she placed a hand on his cheek.

"And that you return mine" She replied, kissing him lightly. Now it was Natsu's turn to look astonished and he did so, sitting back on his heels and gaping at her.

"Sorry?" Lucy mumbled after a few minutes of awkward silence. She made a move to stand up and Natsu's hand shot out, snaking around her waist and pulling her down onto his lap.

"No need." He rumbled, smashing his lips to hers suddenly. Lucy smiled slightly and kissed him back, threading her fingers through his soft hair. They stayed like that for a long while until Lucy pulled back, harshly gulping air.

"I-I... didn't t-think... you... c-could s-survive... without a-air... that l-long." She panted, pressing a hand to her rapidly moving chest. Natsu smirked over at her but was breathing just as hard.

"Better get used to it." He grinned, his voice shaking slightly.

"Only if you do." Lucy responded with a smile. "Now let's go get our reward... I still have to pay rent!"

**(^.^) (^.^)**

Natsu groaned and hung out of the train window with a pale green face.

"Oh Natsu... you're one of the few things that never change." Lucy murmured affectionately, gently pulling Natsu into her lap.

"I-I know s-something else that doesn't ch-change." Natsu mumbled, rolling over so that his nose was pressed into her stomach.

"Oh? What's that?"Lucy questioned curiously while playing with his hair.

"How good you smell." Came the muffled reply, making her blush profusely.

"T-thanks..." She stuttered.

"Also how damn sexy you look in my scarf." He smirked against her stomach.

"S-sexy?" At this point she was having trouble breathing.

"Oh, and third time really is the charm." Lucy couldn't help the grin that spread across her face.

"Definitely." She responded, staring out the window happily. A short while later Natsu's content snores echoed through their compartment and Lucy bent over to kiss Natsu's cheek.

"Definitely..."

* * *

**_ A/N:_**

**_Soo... what do think? Love it? Hate it? No opinion either way? Review anyways~! I hope it wasn't too OOC and for those who were confused as to the fireball thing, let's just say my train of thought was the whole dragons and their mates principle. Everybody goes about it a different way for the most part but yeah... I hope that makes sense. Anyways this was saved and forgotten so I thought I'd publish it now cuz I can and yeah. Again please review and I'll see you next time~! :)_**


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